N.C. Sen. Hagan fundraises in Tampa

TAMPA ­­— Alex Sink of Tampa and Sen. Bill Nelson will headline a fundraiser in Tampa Sunday for North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat facing a tough re-election challenge from Republican Thom Tillis in one of the contests that could decide control of the Senate after the November election.

Hagan has Florida ties -- she grew up in Lakeland and is a niece of former Florida governor and Democratic icon Lawton Chiles, according to an email invitation to the event from Sink.

The event, at a Hyde Park art gallery, asks a $100 minimum to attend and suggests contribution levels up to $2,600.

A poll last month by a Democratic-oriented polling and political consulting firm, Public Policy Polling, found the race a tossup -- Hagan 38 percent, Tillis 36, and Libertarian candidate Sean Haugh 11 percent.